Shiv Sena for Sushma as PM candidate

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Last Updated: Tue, Jan 29, 2013 10:00 hrs

Mumbai: While senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yashwant Sinha on Monday said the party should name Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi as its prime ministerial candidate for 2014 Lok Sabha polls, more allies of the party in the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) umbrella are differing. The latest is Shiv Sena.

Shiv Sena senior leader Sanjay Raut said on Tuesday the party would go for Sushma Swaraj as their prime ministerial choice since that was the name that was endorsed by their late leader Bal Thackeray.

Raut said since the late party supremo had batted for Sushma Swaraj they would go by him.

"Balasaheb's word is final for us," said Raut, though adding that the decision will finally come from Uddhav Thackeray, the political heir to the legacy of Bal Thackeray.

Yashwant Sinha said earlier: "Wherever I go, I find people and party workers strongly demanding that Narendra Modi should be projected as the party's Prime Minister candidate."

"After considering everything, I also felt that if the BJP declares him as the Prime Minister candidate then the party will hugely benefit in the elections. It is also going to have a huge impact on voters. I have no doubt on this ," he said.

BJP president Rajnath Singh, who had earlier hinted that Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi may soon play a bigger role in national politics for the party, met the latter on Sunday here and discussed poll issues.

Modi has just won the Gujarat elections with a strong mandate to rule for another five years, his third consecutive term.